Fan-Turbotastic
by MadnessJones
Summary: Ever since Turbo was destroyed and Sugar Rush restored everything has been great for the arcade. Everything gets thrown upside down however when Mr. Litwak buys another game: Turbo Time. Will history repeat itself, or is the arcade big enough for one more? No pairings.
1. The New Cabinet

_Author's Notes: Honestly, I don't know if anyone is going to read this fic or not. I don't know how popular Wreck-It Ralph is on this site, and this is the first and probably only time I'll write a fic for it. Then again I said that about Transformers and ended up writing 47 and counting, so who knows? If you're reading, then let me know how I'm doing and whether or not you want this story to be completed. Also, the twins from Turbo Time don't have canon names, so I searched the Internet to find the fan names I liked best. I went with Choke and Dagger. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this Wreck-It Ralph fanfic and please remember to leave a review :)_

* * *

Chapter 1

The New Cabinet

Mr. Litwak couldn't believe his luck. He had been going to this auction every Friday night for 10 years, but he had never seen anyone sell an arcade cabinet there before, let alone one that was such a classic. It had belonged to a private collector that had sadly passed away, and Mr. Litwak won the bid at a low price and was going to give it a new home in his arcade.

He looked over the condition of his new prize and saw that it was pristine. He smiled when he remembered having a game just like this many years ago. It had been so popular back then, but he wondered if that would still be true now.

Some would think Mr. Litwak a nostalgic man considering his job was to run an arcade, but that couldn't be further from the truth. His customer base consisted of happy young children, excited teens, and young at heart adults; all looking for the most fun they could get out of their spare change. He wouldn't buy a game just because he liked it, no. He had a business to run and needed to ensure quality. So he turned on the cabinet and began to play, just to make sure this purchase was worth his money...

...

QUARTER ALERT! QUARTER ALERT!

The game's lights flashed as the players rushed to get their gear on and leap into their cars. This was what they had been trained for, and they were ready. It was time for yet another intense race.

"About bleeping time!" One of the sprites shouted, "It's been two weeks!"

"Uh guys, who is _that_?" Another one stared up at the screen even as he grabbed the steering wheel of his car.

"What the-? Where's Jerry?" A third racer asked incredulously, "He can't do this to us! Jerry's been our player for over 30 years! Where is he?"

"What are you complaining about?" The first character griped, "I'm the player avatar, remember?"

"It's the end of the world, I just know it!" The second one whined, "Jerry's gone, and now some weird old guy is gonna play us!"

"Get your head back in the game!" The first one barked as the lights came on the track and they got into position, "It's go time, and we're not gonna mess this up just because the rules of the game have changed."

...

Litwak meanwhile watched as the arcade turned on with perfect clarity, and the racers appeared on the screen. He hit the start button, and was pleased to hear the punchy voice of the early 80s game character as he spouted his catchphrase...

"Turbotastic!"

* * *

Wreck-It Ralph sat in his usual chair at the Bad Anon meeting as the others shared their stories of both successes and failures in their roles as bad guys. He had been going to these meetings for a while now, and it really helped him with his feelings about his job. He wasn't nearly as depressed as he used to be, and on those days when he couldn't hang out with Vanellope going to Bad Anon was a comfort. He couldn't imagine what his life would be like without the support he got from her and from his new friends.

It was still a lot for him to think about everything he had gone through when he first met Vanellope Von Schweetz. Back then all he wanted was to be a good guy and win a medal. He thought what he wanted was glory, but the truth was all he wanted was to be appreciated. He thought there was nothing wrong with going Turbo, but then he got to see firsthand what that kind of selfishness did to a character.

Sometimes Ralph would have nightmares about it, though he didn't tell anyone; not even the other bad guys at Bad Anon. He would dream about Cybugs, about Turbo, and about Vanellope glitching out of existence. For some reason the dreams never involved King Candy. It was always Turbo. The scariest dream Ralph ever had though was the one where he was surrounded by Turbos, only for Sour Bill to hold up a mirror and reveal that Ralph was also Turbo!

Deep down Ralph knew why that dream bothered him. It was because that was what he almost became. By game jumping he nearly destroyed his own game, just like Turbo destroyed two games by jumping and nearly destroyed Sugar Rush in his mad lust for power. Having a dump for a house and Gene for a neighbor didn't seem so bad when compared to what might have been.

"...And that is why Zangief has to buy root beer via takeout only from Tapper's from now on," Zangief finished his story, and only then did Ralph stop daydreaming.

"Um, thank you Zangief for that very... _enlightening_ story," Clyde replied as politely as he could, "Next up is Dr. Robotnik. Dr.?"

"Ah yes, my week was pretty good actually," Dr. Robotnik shared with the group, "I took the group's advice to reach out and try to make friends within my own game, and as it turns out Knuckles isn't as big of a jerk as I thought. We grabbed some candy in Sugar Rush, and then messed up the music selections in Dance Dance Revolution! Oh it was hysterical! Hoo hoo hoo!"

" _Ragh_! That was _you_!?" Zombie asked indignantly, "Me want to dance to All Star, but me get Barbie Girl instead!"

The entire group laughed, and Zombie tried his best to frown at them, but part of his lower jaw came off. Ralph cringed because he was sitting right next to Zombie when it happened, and couldn't help but watch as Zombie picked his jaw up off the ground.

"I'm glad you found a friend within Sonic The Fighters," Clyde said diplomatically; ignoring the growling and gurgling Zombie, "Up next I would invite- Oh, it seems we have two new members joining us today."

Everyone turned to see who had come into Bad Anon, and about half the group gasped when they saw who it was. Ralph's code ran cold when he realized they were here. How could this be happening? They were _gone_! They had been gone for a long time, so how could it be?

"Greetings, fellow antagonists!" One of the identical grey characters clad in blue jumpsuits exclaimed.

"I'm Choke," The other one introduced itself.

"And I'm Dagger!" The first one shouted gleefully, "And we're..."

" _The Terror Twins_!" They yelled out together and they did an identical hand jive pose.

Yes, Ralph remembered these two all too well. They were the other two racer NPCs from Turbo Time, and Turbo's arch rivals in-game. These two couldn't be here though. Their game got unplugged nearly 20 years ago. They were gone, but then again everyone thought Turbo was gone. Wait, Turbo _was_ gone, wasn't he?

"You must be the bad guys from the new arcade cabinet," Clyde greeted them kindly, making Ralph wonder how that little orange ghost could be so calm, "Would you like to sit down? Maybe introduce yourselves to the rest of the group?"

The two looked at him, but then Dagger quickly grabbed Choke's arm and pointed to the refreshment table.

" _Donuts_!" They shouted in unison as they zipped over to scarf down as many donuts as they could shove into their greedy mouths.

"Mm... _Mmm_! These are great!" Dagger exclaimed joyfully, "In our game we don't have food power-ups. Only gas cans."

"You guys _eat_ gas cans?" M. Bison asked them disgustedly.

"No, the gas cans are for our cars," Choke replied with an eye roll, "We don't get anything for ourselves because in Turbo Time the only thing that matters is the car."

"Well, and the player," Dagger added sheepishly, "At least in Turbo's case."

"Uh, how exactly did you guys get in here?" Ralph asked; no longer able to hide his curiosity and confusion.

"Jerry left us! _Waaaah_!" Dagger cried pixelated tears as he shouted, "Now anybody with quarters in their pocket can play Turbo Time, and it stinks!"

"Yeah, we're actually _winning_ for a change," Choke added, "Do you know how hard Turbo is to live with when he loses? I haven't seen him this cranky since that one time the game cut off when he was receiving the trophy. You guys get it, right? Good guys are so fussy when they lose."

"I know Mario is," Bowser shrugged, "That guy is such a primadonna."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Ralph interjected, "Turbo? As in, Turbo is here?"

Choke and Dagger looked at each other as if to say 'can you believe this guy?', before Choke fielded the question.

"No, _Andross_. We killed Turbo and took his place. That's why we look so much like him," Choke replied sarcastically, "Seriously, do you have a glitch or something? You can't have a game without the hero. No Turbo, no Turbo Time. Yeesh, it's like talking to the engine block."

"Don't be so mean, Choke," Dagger chided his twin, "We need these guys. We live in an arcade now, and we're going to have to deal with other games. You should be more like Turbo and put yourself out there more."

Choke sighed audibly and shook his head sadly. The characters from Turbo Time had belonged to an owner that only had one arcade game; theirs. Jerry had been a collector of Turbo Time merchandise, had played the game at least once a week for 30 years, and was the reason the three Turbo Time characters responded to the quarter alert every single time. There had been no other games, no distractions. There was only racing, Turbo, Choke, Dagger, and Jerry. Now there was so much more to get used to.

"I apologize to you," Choke finally said to Ralph, "Let's restart this conversation from level one. Hello fellow bad guy, my name is Choke. This is Dagger. What is your name?"

"Wreck-It Ralph," Ralph replied irritably; trying to hide his growing unease, "Now, what I meant to ask is when was the last time you saw Turbo?"

"A few minutes ago," Dagger supplied helpfully, "He was going to the power strip to meet the other game characters. Hey wait, is that a cherry I see?"

Dagger stopped talking to eat the cherry, and Choke sat down next to M. Bison. He looked uncomfortable since most of the other bad guys were big and mean looking. He knew he and Dagger looked kind of creepy, but to be fair so did Turbo. They were in way over their level here.

Ralph could feel the 1s and 0s in his stomach churn. Turbo was back. Turbo was loose in the arcade somewhere, and he might try to hurt Vanellope or the other game characters! He ran out of Bad Anon without so much as a goodbye, determined to stop Turbo before something bad happened.

* * *

Turbo drove around the hub of the power strip as slowly as he could. There were sprites everywhere! Turbo had never seen so many game characters before, and it was a little overwhelming. He also noticed that many of the other sprites were trying to get away from him, and he wondered why they were being so unfriendly.

He stopped to take in his surroundings, and noticed that there were display screens with a blue rodent on them giving instructions.

"Remember to leave other games' power-ups where you found them," Sonic's PSA screen told everyone, "Because stealing is no good. Also remember to take power-ups from your own game with you when you leave to visit other games. Remember, if you die outside your game, you don't regenerate. Ever. Gave over."

"Never regenerate?" Turbo asked himself worriedly, "That sounds terrible! Maybe that's why nobody wants to talk to me out here. Maybe I could make friends if I went inside a game so nobody would have to worry. So, which game should I start with?"

Turbo drove slowly around the him to ensure he wouldn't hit anyone as he read off the different games available to visit.

"Hm, Fix-It Felix Jr., Street Fighter, Sonic The Fighters, Hero's Duty...Goodness there are a lot of fighting games," Turbo commented to himself, "Okay let's see...Dance Dance Revolution, Dig Dug, Super Mario Bros., Tapper, Sugar Rush, hey wait! _Sugar Rush_! Either that's a game about catching falling candy, or it's a racing game with a candy theme. Either way I'm hungry, so maybe they'll share."

Turbo decided then that Sugar Rush was a safe and fun option for introducing himself to the wider gaming world, so he drove right in to see what he would find. Little did he realize that he wouldn't like what he would find in there...


	2. Palace Intrigue

_Author's Notes: Hey everyone! Sorry I took so long to post another chapter. I had a paid gig and couldn't write during that time. Anyway, this chapter focuses mostly on Turbo, but I will add more POVs in future chapters. Hope you are enjoying this fic, and please favorite follow and review to see more :)_

* * *

Chapter 2

Palace Intrigue

Turbo drove his kart along the saccharine roads of Sugar Rush and took in everything he could of the landscape. He didn't see any NPCs or player characters yet, but he could see the gumdrops floating in the taffy swamp, the candy cane trees standing sentry like sugar-coated scarecrows, and the cotton candy clouds wafting through a bright and happy sky.

The high definition graphics almost hurt for Turbo to look at. He had never seen anything like this when he and the twins lived with Jerry. He wondered if 3D character sprites looked very different from him and his fellow racers. It was kind of scary to drive to a new game, but exhilarating at the same time. He knew Choke and Dagger were scared, so he had to be the strong one and start making new alliances with the other games. After all, he was Turbo, the greatest racer ever.

He passed by a sign and stopped to see if maybe it was directions to the nearest level. Instead it was a colorful sign with a picture of a blonde girl on it that read VOTE TAFFYTA MUTTONFUDGE. Well, that was an interesting addition to a racing game, and it wasn't even near the tracks.

As Turbo drove along the forest edge he saw many more signs that read thing like VANELLOPE 4 PRESIDENT, VOTE SNOWANNA, and RANCIS SAYS RACE FOR THE POLLS.

So, it was an election. Seemed kind of silly, but then again Turbo knew this game had a lot more players and NPCs than his own game. The audience in Turbo Time wasn't even sentient programming! Just a bunch of little dots in the bleachers. Turbo was beginning to feel a bit out of his element.

Turbo drove for a few minutes until he was able to veer off onto a beginner's track. He finally saw a couple of living peppermint NPCs on the side of the road having a conversation. It wasn't much, but it would be a start. He had to talk to someone if he was going to fulfill his mission. He drove up to the two red and white candies and honked a couple times in quick succession. They looked, did a double take, and then gasped.

"Hello, little ones," Turbo greeted then with a wide yellow toothed grin, "I'm Turbo! What are your na-?"

" _AAAHHH_!" The two peppermints screamed and ran away from Turbo in a panic.

"Goodness, wonder what got into them?" Turbo asked himself before shrugging it off and continuing down the track.

Turbo did a few laps on the unfamiliar track to get a layout for how this game operated. While the graphics were superior and the sound effects were awesome, the game played in a surprisingly similar way to Turbo Time. Turbo actually found he was quite comfortable in this game once he got used to the perpetual layers of sugar dust and the smell of warm chocolate in the air.

Soon he heard more karts on the road, and figured out that a race was going on. Well, he knew better than to get in the way of an official race in someone else's game, so he pulled over to let the racers pass. Instead of passing him however the karts stopped and the characters, children from the looks of it, got out and approached him.

"Hiya kids!" Turbo waved at them and flashed what he thought was another winning smile, "Nice day for a race, huh?"

"So it's true," The blonde one, Taffyta if he recalled correctly, said as she stomped toward him aggressively, "You're still alive. I think President Vanellope will be _very_ interested in seeing you."

"President? I thought you were still holding elections," Turbo pointed out.

"Vanellope's the acting president until the election is over," Another racer, this one wearing a candle hat, replied, "So, how'd you get the cybug coding out?"

"Huh?" Turbo quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

"Just follow us to the palace," Taffyta ordered him while ignoring her candle-headed friend, "By the way, it looks exactly the same. The walls are still pink. Oops, I mean _salmon_."

He could tell the young lollipop lady was being sarcastic, but he couldn't figure out in what way or for what purpose. These kids were acting weird, and Turbo began to wonder if coming to this game had been a good idea. Then again they were taking him to see their game's leader, so maybe this was actually going well and he was just misinterpreting their cultural mannerisms. Either way he still had one more chance to make a good first impression and strengthen the position of Turbo Time in the arcade. He wasn't going to blow it.

* * *

Vanellope returned home to the palace after practicing her drift technique in Diet Cola Mountain. There were better tracks to practice on, but that one was still special to her. After all, it was where Ralph had taught her to drive when she had forgotten how, and it was where the beacon was created that saved Sugar Rush from the cybug invasion and King Candy/Turbo.

Sour Bill was waiting for her by the throne as usual, and as usual she had nothing to ask of him. Vanellope didn't like to bother Sour Bill, especially since he was so slow moving (a real disadvantage in a go-kart game). She parked her messy purple frosted kart in the spot where the throne stood and hopped out to head for her bedroom, but before she could take her leave she heard karts coming closer.

She wondered why so many racers were coming at the same time, so she hopped back into her kart so she could sit eye level with her subjects. Taffyta came in first, followed by Rancis, then Swizzle, then an entire group. At the end of the procession however was a face that she thought she would never see again; a face that still sent shivers down her spine and caused her to involuntarily glitch.

 _Turbo_.

"Vanellope, guess what we found on the track?" Taffyta asked proudly before sticking a lollipop in her mouth in triumph.

"Yeah, I see him," Vanellope said as flatly as she could to avoid sounding terrified.

Turbo was in her castle after all this time. It didn't seem real, and yet there he was. King Candy had kept Vanellope away from racing for 15 years and had forced her to live as an ostracized glitch in Diet Cola Mountain. King Candy was a jerk, but Turbo was the face that really haunted Vanellope's nightmares. That was the face that was hovering over her as her car careened out of control, those grey hands were the ones that tried to beat her senseless with a gear shift, and those eyes were the ones that glowed with malice as he bragged about stealing her game and her life away from her for so long.

Vanellope was angry, but as much as she felt anger she also felt fear. King Candy had ruined her life, Turbo tried to kill her in her moment of glory, and King Turbo Cybug had gleefully tried to kill Ralph and destroy the entire game BIT by BIT. He was a monster, and this time he wasn't going to get away.

"Greetings, Madam President," Turbo bowed quickly and then sprang back up to look her in the eye, "I am Turbo. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Yeah, right!" Vanellope barked back bitingly, "I know why you're here, Turbo. I also know what to do with a son of a monkey like you."

"Tea time?" Turbo asked hopefully, "Oh, maybe you'd like to race around the track! I saw this lovely snow level we could race in!"

Was he serious? He wanted to race her in the very level where he tried to kill her? That was it. He was taunting her now. Vanellope had no patience for his games anymore.

"Duncan! Wynchel!" Vanellope called out, and her donut guards came running to her side, "Lock Turbo in the fungeon, and bake the key into a jawbreaker!"

"Um, the fungeon?" Turbo asked nervously; unfamiliar with the word, "I don't know what you- _Oof_!"

Turbo was picked up by one of the guards by his jumpsuit collar and carried away from Vanellope. The other racers breathed a sigh of relief as they saw Turbo carted away. They likewise remembered the cybug incident, and also feared Turbo's ability to hack their codes and take away their memories and true personalities. Vanellope slumped back down in her kart and breathed in and out to calm herself down. Turbo was back, and now she had him in her palace. What was she going to do?

* * *

"Let me go, you cream filled cretans!" Turbo cried out as he was roughly escorted down the dreary hallways under the palace's main floor, "My game! I have to get back-"

"Yeah, yeah, we know exactly what you want, imposter!" Duncan snapped angrily at the little grey racer, "Get in there, creep!"

Turbo was flung into the fungeon, and he briefly felt his code flicker. He feared that the impact was enough to erase him forever, but soon realized he was okay. He ran up to the locked door and held onto the bars. He grit his teeth and glared at the retreating forms of the donut guards just as they shut the door that led into the fungeon.

"Let me out!" Turbo screamed bitterly, "The arcade opens in-" He checked his watch, " _Three_ hours! I need to get back to Turbo Time! The game will be unplugged without me! Let me out of here, you little monsters!"

Turbo panted from all the screaming he did, but it was no use. He was trapped in this sugar-coated tomb. He licked the walls to see if he could eat his way out. _Yuck_! The walls were made of hardened corn starch bricks. Okay, so Plan A wasn't going to work. Now what?

An hour passed in silence as Turbo sat on his sugar cube seat with his head in his hands. Did the twins realize he was missing? Were they looking for him? Would he and his NPCs be homeless now? That bratty little princess was evil, Turbo just knew it. He considered revenge, but how? He was trapped in the-

"Oh, _fungeon_! Like fun dungeon. Okay, _now_ I get it," Turbo exclaimed to himself and laughed at his own thick-headedness, "Well it's not a very good name. This place isn't fun at all. There are ugly clowns and racers painted on the walls frowning down at me. Okay, that's kind of creepy actually. At least it isn't pink. That princess has so much pink in her palace that it literally hurts my eyes. Wait, what does that comic bubble on the wall say? _You've been a bad girl_? Huh, I guess most of the racers here are little girls, but that's still a creepy thing to write on the wall. Wait a minute, what the scattershot is _that_ thing?"

Turbo squinted in the barely lit cell to see the small picture on the mural. It was directly above his head; a picture of a racer in a classic looking kart like his own. Its comic bubble said 'Game Over, glitch', and the racer looked exactly like...

"Is that _me_?" Turbo asked in muted shock, "I don't understand. How do they know me? I've never been here before in my life!"

Turbo was shaken to his core by the sight of it. It was definitely a picture of him, but this Turbo looked like it was taunting him; rebuking him. This game was terrifying, and Turbo had to get out before these urchins forced him game into shutdown. He needed a plan, if not for himself then for Turbo Time. Choke and Dagger's lives depended on him, and his home depended on him. If he got out of this he would never associate with the other games again. The risk was too great.

Suddenly he heard the sound of the lock being turned, and the door opened to reveal the green gumball with the bored expression that had been with President Vanellope earlier. Turbo thought about jumping him and escaping, but he didn't know what kind of unpleasant surprises this NPC was capable of. For all Turbo knew he could be a level boss.

"Welcome back, King Candy," Sour Bill said in his typical uninterested monotone, "I'm so happy to see you," He didn't sound happy at all, "Working for President Vanellope is so unfulfilling. Also her best friend is Wreck-It Ralph, and that guy tried to eat me once. Every day of my life is filled with hours of nothing followed by more hours of nothing. The last interesting thing that happened to me was when I fell in some frosting at the kart bakery and the president just laughed and laughed. I didn't even get to help bake the kart."

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt you while you're venting," Turbo interjected, "But when am I going to be released? I really need to get back to my game."

"Of course, your majesty. That's why I'm here," Sour Bill replied, "I can get you to the code room, you can become King Candy again, and then everything will be the way it was. I just have one request. Can you program Minty Zaki to be my girlfriend? She is so awesome."

"Leaping lugnuts," Turbo cursed under his breath as he facepalmed, "This guy is crazy. Still, I need to get home."

"What did you say, sire?" Sour Bill asked drably.

"N-Nothing, nothing at all!" Turbo lied, "Just help me escape, and I'll program anything you want."

Of course Turbo was lying. He didn't know how to break into a code room. He didn't even know how to jump, and jumping was something most other game characters did without thinking. It didn't matter though, because once this fruit cake got him out the door he was going to make a run for it.

They travelled along the dark hallways and corridors until they made it to a wire tunnel that was glowing blue and felt a little warm. Turbo tugged at his collar nervously, wondering if this was some sort of trick.

"You know, with this election coming up anyone could be our new ruler," Sour Bill told Turbo as he approached the door that locked the code room, "I could get stuck working for Taffyta, Rancis, Gloyd, or Snowanna. None of them know anything about Sugar Rush's internal politics. Vanellope barely knows and she's programmed for it. She's the best racer, I'll admit, but she cares more about outside game sprites than making sure Sugar Rush is running smoothly. Taffyta is too demanding, Rancis is a moron, and Snowanna would give away all of our chocolate coins just so people would like her better. You were the best ruler we ever had, King Candy."

This guy was talking too slowly. Why was he just standing in front of the door and telling Turbo his entire life story? They could get caught!

"Just put in the code, buddy," Turbo growled impatiently as he tapped his foot against the tile floor.

"Of course, sire," Sour Bill replied dutifully.

Sour bill slowly put in the code for the door, slow enough that Turbo could easily get a good look at what he was doing. Turbo quickly took a notepad out of his jumpsuit and wrote down the code just in case he ever needed it, and shoved the pad and pencil back in his jumpsuit when Sour Bill turned around to look at him.

The door opened, and inside Turbo saw what had to be the most detailed coding he had ever seen in his life. No wonder this game looked so good. Everything was connected yet separate, and the tendrils of coding was beautiful enough that it nearly made Turbo weep. He wondered if Turbo Time looked like this on the inside.

"Go on in, your majesty," Sour Bill instructed, "Tie this licorice around your waist, and I'll hold onto you."

Sour Bill's words brought Turbo back to reality, and before the green candy Sprite knew what was happening Turbo pushed him into the weightless code room and slammed the door behind him. The only thing that kept Sour Bill from being lost to the void was the fact that he was still holding the licorice rope.

Wasting no time, Turbo ran away from the horrible pink palace and through the forest. He didn't stop until he made it to the tunnel that connected this game to every other, and he rode the train out of there. He left his kart in Sugar Rush, so he would have to use a spare from Turbo Time. That didn't matter though. All that mattered was getting to Turbo Time before the arcade opened.


	3. Jerry

_Author's Notes: Hi everyone! I am so sorry this update took so long. It should've been done by now since I started the chapter right away, but if I don't finish right away then I get distracted. Sorry. Anyway, thank you all for viewing this fic, and thank you to those that have reviewed. While Fan-Turbotastic is just a side project, I'll do my best to not forget about it since I've got some interesting things planned for this plot. I hope you like this chapter :)_

* * *

Chapter 3

Jerry

Ralph ran through Game Central Station at a fevered pace. Seeing those twin nightmares in Bad Anon had been bad enough, but knowing that Turbo was loose somewhere in the arcade made him worry for the safety of his friends. Fix-It Felix was spending the night in Hero's Duty with his new wife, and Vanellope had no idea that there was a Turbo lurking around.

Ralph knew this Turbo wasn't the same one that had died on Diet Cola Mountain, but he also had no experience with other versions of the same game, so he didn't know if being evil and selfish was preprogrammed into Turbo's coding or not. When it came to his best friends though, better safe than sorry.

In game central station smaller game characters ran away from Ralph as they always did. It annoyed him, but he understood on some level why they acted so scared of him. Some of these characters were programmed to die if they so much as _touched_ a bad guy character. Still, they didn't have to be so obvious and treat him like he was a virus.

When Ralph ran through Sugar Rush he was stopped by the Surge Protector...again.

"Name?" Surge asked dispassionately.

"Your motherboard," Ralph growled irritably.

"Name?" Surge asked again without looking up.

"Wreck-It Ralph!" Ralph shouted impatiently, "Seriously, just look up from your clipboard! You see me every night!"

"Destination?" Surge asked, ignoring Ralph's grumbling.

"Sugar Rush," Ralph sighed, tired of talking to this guy.

"Alright then, everything checks out," Surge droned on as he wrote something down on his clipboard, "Don't steal food or power ups from the other games, and have a pleasant day."

Surge Protector then disappeared as quickly as he arrived, and Ralph got on the train into Sugar Rush to warn Vanellope about the new Turbo. He noticed as soon as he exited the train that there were kart tracks leading away from the exit and footprints headed toward the exit. The tire tracks didn't look like the normal wafers and hard candies that Sugar Rush tires were normally made of. These had treads. _Turbo_.

"Ralph!" Ralph heard a young voice call him.

He turned around to see Jubileena Bing Bing running toward him with a worried expression on her face.

"Ralph! Vanellope wants to see you right away!" Jubileena told him, "Turbo's back!"

"I know," Ralph replied, "It's a new Turbo. Litwak plugged in a new Turbo Time game, and Turbo and his Terror Twins are now living here in the arcade."

"It's not the same Turbo?" Jubileena asked quizzically, "Oh, sour balls! We've gotta tell the president right away! She doesn't realize she locked up an innocent game sprite."

"Locked up?" Ralph asked; almost impressed at how quickly Vanellope handled the situation, "Let's go!"

Ralph ran behind Jubileena's kart all the way to the palace. Vanellope normally let Ralph ride on the back of her kart, but he didn't want to ask a racer he barely knew, so he just ran behind her and tried to ignore the sticky candy bits that stuck to his bare feet.

At the palace Ralph was ushered inside immediately. Everyone knew he was Vanellope's best friend, so he didn't have to go through the normal security checks. Ralph was glad for that too, as it helped him forget that stupid surge protector.

In the throne room he saw Vanellope talking with a few of the other racers, but when she saw him her face lit up and she immediately ran over to him.

"Ralph! You're not gonna believe this!" Vanellope exclaimed right away, "That creep Turbo is back! I locked him in the fungeon, but now I don't know what to do with him. Got any bright ideas, Stinkbrain?"

"Vanellope, you have to let him out," Ralph told her, and when she was about to ask him what the Red Hots was going on he quickly added, "That's not King Candy. This Turbo is a new guy from a new arcade cabinet. Turbo Time is back, and with it came new characters."

"So, you mean that's not the real Turbo?" Vanellope asked; confused.

"Well technically he is _a_ Turbo, just not _the_ Turbo," Ralph tried to explain.

"Oh. Then he must think I'm a real jerk," Vanellope replied; the situation finally sinking in, "I didn't even hear him out. Wait, if he's a different Turbo, then does that mean he's nice?"

"I don't know," Ralph shrugged, "I've never met him. His twins seemed okay though."

"His twins?" Vanellope inquired.

"Yeah, in Turbo Time there are always identical twin racers to go up against Turbo," Ralph explained, "They don't have coded names apparently. The last ones I met were named Jet and Nitro, but these two new guys call themselves Choke and Dagger."

"That doesn't sound too friendly," Vanellope pointed out, "Think they're trouble?"

"Well...I wouldn't let them near your donut guards," Ralph replied hesitantly, "They really seemed to love the donuts when they saw them at the Bad Anon meeting. Tore right into 'em."

Vanellope laughed at the idea of two Turbos stuffing themselves with baked goods. Fortunately not every food item in Sugar Rush was sentient.

"Alright Ralph, let's go get Turbo out of the fungeon," Vanellope ordered as she skipped over to the hallway leading to the dark lower levels of the palace, "I don't want him thinking our game is a bad place. Maybe this is our chance to start over. What do you think?"

"I don't know," Ralph shrugged.

"Yeah, I think it is," Vanellope replied confidently, "Maybe by being friends with this Turbo it'll help me get over my fear of the old one. I don't think I'll ever stop hating the old Turbo for what he did to me, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't give the new Turbo a chance. He could be sweet as pie, after all."

Vanellope continued to talk all the way down to the fungeon. Ralph could tell that despite her bravado and optimistic chatter that Vanellope was nervous. She was a strong kid, but deep down she was still a kid. Ralph wasn't too worried though. He knew he could protect her if anything went wrong.

Ralph stopped his musing however when he heard Vanellope gasp in shock. She had the door open and was looking wide-eyed at the inside. Ralph feared Turbo was about to attack or something and ran to get to Vanellope as quickly as possible.

"Vanellope! What's going on?" Ralph demanded to know as soon as he got there.

"He's gone..." Vanellope whispered; still unable to believe it, "Turbo escaped!"

Ralph looked in the cell, and sure enough it was empty. There was no hole in the walls, no exit point. The door didn't even look disturbed. Ralph wondered how he got out so quietly and without damaging anything. Ralph knew if he had to break out of the jail he would literally _break_ out of jail.

"Oh, monkey milk!" Vanellope groaned miserably, "I think I might've just caused Sugar Rush to have a new enemy."

* * *

Turbo made it back to his cabinet in time for the opening of the arcade. The twins looked happy as they welcomed him back and they all got into their karts to start their first official work day in their new home.

"I hope they like us!" Dagger exclaimed as he wore a fidgety grin on his face, "Hey, you think there's a chance one of the gamers will buy this game and take us home?"

"No," Choke shot down that fantasy right away, "This is a place to play games, not a used car lot. Just focus on what we're supposed to do: defeat Turbo."

"Hey, I'm sitting right here! I can hear you!" Turbo complained, "Anyway, I just hope none of the newbies crash us or something. You know how little kids are with steering wheel controls. They think turning it as hard as they can will make the car go faster."

"Hey, at Bad Anon I heard a fun word for newbies," Dagger prattled on, " _Noobs_. Isn't that just the funniest word to say? Noobs! Noobs noobs noobs! Noobs!"

"Stop saying noobs!" Choke snapped at his twin.

"Noobs noobs noobs noobs noobs!" Dagger sang out to annoy Choke.

"Ugh! Turbo, make him stop!" Choke shouted at their game leader.

"He'll calm down as soon as the quarter alert signals," Turbo assured him, "Right now we just need to stay in position until our player of the day shows up."

Turbo gripped the steering wheel hard. Dagger continued to sing the word noobs over and over again while Choke continued to scream for his twin to be quiet. Turbo didn't mind though, not this time. The world outside Turbo Time was a scary and dangerous place, and Turbo never wanted to leave the safe predictability of quarter alerts and arguing twins.

A few minutes became an hour, then two hours. Turbo and the twins continued to look eagerly at the screen and watch the arcade's hustle and bustle. Lots of people were in the arcade playing games, but no one was playing Turbo Time. The game characters didn't understand what they were doing wrong. Why wasn't anyone playing Turbo Time?

Finally, three and a half hours after the arcade opened, a little boy walked up to the game console and put in his quarters. The quarter alert sounded and woke up Dagger; who had fallen asleep in his kart. Dagger screamed, and if Choke had been close enough he would've slapped him.

"Alright racers, quarter alert! Prepare to get your butts kicked!" Turbo announced as he held tight to the wheel.

Turbo began to feel the sensation that came with the player overriding the manual controls in his body. He was now a puppet controlled by the whims of a new player, and he was _so_ ready for it. The idle screen lifted, and they were now live with the player able to see them.

"Turbotastic!" Turbo shouted as he automatically gave the thumbs up to his player.

The kid took hold of the wheel, and the game was on. As it turned out the twins didn't have to work too hard to get ahead of Turbo, since this little kid had clearly never played their game before in his life. The player kept running Turbo off the track into sand barriers that slowed down the kart. He also kept crashing into trees and rocks. Turbo must've crashed at least 8 times before the end of the race. The kid was upset he lost so badly and decided he didn't want to play again, so the avatars drove back to the start position.

"I got the trophy!" Dagger announced giddily, "This is my 5th trophy ever! I'm gonna go put it with the others!"

Dagger then skipped away with his prize, and Choke looked back to see a battered Turbo getting out of his kart.

"Are you okay, Turbo?" Choke asked; concerned, "That was brutal."

"It's fine," Turbo replied distractedly as he rubbed his helmet, "I'm gonna stay in position for a while. You and your brother come back when the quarter alert sounds, okay?"

"Well...okay Turbo, have it your way," Choke finally conceded, "But if you need to talk I'm here."

"Thanks, but I'm fine. Really," Turbo assured him before climbing back into his kart.

Choke walked away, and Turbo sat down in his kart and sighed. He couldn't explain these feelings to Choke, because he didn't think an NPC could understand. Turbo was indeed sad, but not for the reasons that were obvious. Turbo crashing over and over like that reminded him of when their arcade cabinet was first plugged in, and when they first met Jerry...

* * *

Coming to life felt like a jolt of electricity and a beam of light all at once. It was painful, yet it was beautiful. Turbo looked down and the first thing he noticed was his own grey hands holding onto the steering wheel of his kart. The second thing he noticed was the huge screen in the sky that looked out onto a world that was more dimly lit than his own world.

"What is this place?" Turbo heard someone say.

He turned around to see two other characters that looked a lot like him, only taller and with blue jumpsuits instead of red and white. His code supplied him with their information. They were his racing rivals. So, he was a racer. Turbotastic!

A face soon came into view on the screen, and then another. Turbo and the twins looked up expectantly. They didn't know who these people were, but Turbo could already tell this was going to be an important moment for him and his rivals.

"Whoa Jerry, I can't believe you bought an arcade machine!" The human on the right exclaimed to the human on the left, "You know, most guys spend their graduation money on a car, not a game meant to simulate a car."

"I don't care, Brian. I've wanted this game ever since it came out last year," The human, Jerry, told his friend, "I can't believe I finally got one. My very own Turbo Time. Now I don't have to wait in line at the arcade and buy sticky game tokens from some bored guy in a goofy uniform. Now I can play whenever I want."

"But why Turbo Time?" Brian asked skeptically, "I mean I admit it's fun, but there are so many better games out there. What about Pac Man, or Centipede?"

"No way, man," Jerry scoffed, "Turbo Time is the best. Those other games try too hard. They all wanna be cute and user friendly, but not Turbo. He's a radical, and it's a game that requires some major skills. I kinda relate to a character like Turbo. He's shorter than everyone else in his world, and he isn't all huggable and sweet. He's a serious competitor. So, you wanna play first, Brian?"

"Nah, I gotta get home," Brian rejected the offer as he walked away.

"Thanks for helping me move this thing into my basement, bro," Jerry called out after his friend.

When the other guy left Jerry turned back to the arcade cabinet and smiled in anticipation. The sprites saw him take a silver disc out of his pocket and slide it into the machine. The next thing they heard was: QUARTER ALERT! QUARTER ALERT!

"What's a quarter alert!?" A racing rival squealed in a panic.

"It's..." Turbo was cut off by his first ever feeling of being taken over by the player, "It's the meaning of our lives."

Turbo felt nervous about having no control over his body, but he also felt excited when he saw the amped look on Jerry's face. Whoever this Jerry was, Turbo knew he was going to be important to him for the rest of his life.

The first game went terribly. Jerry crashed Turbo into so many obstacles, and Turbo questioned whether or not life was a very good idea. A rival won the first trophy. The next race went much better though, and the third one went even better than that. Before long Turbo won almost every race, and Jerry spent the entire night playing Turbo Time. Turbo loved to hear the cheers from Jerry when they won together, and he felt bad every time Jerry groaned at losing. Theirs was a symbiotic relationship, and it only grew as time passed.

Soon Jerry started decorating his basement with lots of Turbo Time merchandise. There were posters, toys, bobble heads, and even a teapot that looked like Turbo's face. The little world of Turbo Time always came alive when Jerry showed up to play, and all three racers looked forward to seeing him. College, his first car, his favorite TV shows, they got to see it all happen before their pixelated eyes. Whenever Jerry had a milestone he was always happier and played a little better.

The rivals chose the names Choke and Dagger, and since they were the only ones Turbo could physically interact with they became his best friends. Sure, competition was serious, but outside of work they would always hang out like friends and they never held grudges for races won or lost.

As the years went by Jerry's life changed, and the Turbo Time racers saw it all from the other side of the screen. Jerry brought home a young woman to play the game with him a few times. Soon he married her and she moved in. Her name was Mary Ann, and she didn't come down to the basement often. That was Jerry's place, and he liked keeping it to himself.

Sometimes when Jerry had get-togethers with his extended family his younger cousins would come down to the basement to play Turbo Time. Those kids weren't bad at the game, but they weren't as good at it as Jerry had become over the years. Turbo especially liked the girl with the brown pigtails, but he couldn't remember her name.

Years turned to a couple decades, and Jerry got older. They were there to see every change he made. He grew a mustache and then shaved it off. He wore polo shirts, but then started wearing sweaters. He got thinner, and he lost his hair. His reflexes on the game got slower, and he coughed a lot more. He came down less often, and soon the arcade cabinet started collecting dust.

One day, after nearly two months of not seeing Jerry, they finally saw someone coming and were so ready for that quarter alert. Turbo had feared that Jerry had forgotten them, but he hadn't! He was coming back!

No, that wasn't Jerry. It was Mary Ann, and she was on the phone. Choke sighed wearily, and Dagger sniffed in an effort not to cry. Turbo wondered where Jerry was. It had been two stinking months! In 27 years he never waited that long to play with them, so why now? What had they done wrong?

Despite knowing it was probably a waste of time Turbo listened to Mary Ann's phone conversation. She looked much older than Turbo remembered. Her hair was grey now. How many years had it been since he had seen her? 10 maybe? She never came down to the rumpus room. It was Jerry's special place.

As it turned out Mary Ann inadvertently revealed to Turbo exactly what was going on, and he checked to see if the twins were listening. They were not. Choke and Dagger were too busy arguing. Good. They didn't need to hear these word.

 _Cancer._

 _Final stages._

 _Coughing up blood._

 _Final arrangements._

Turbo felt stricken. He didn't know what a lot of those words meant. He was an arcade sprite and therefore couldn't get sick like a human could, but he knew from Mary Ann's tone that something was very wrong with Jerry. Jerry was being deleted, and there was nothing they could do.

...

Turbo didn't know how long he sat there thinking back to his old life, but another quarter alert soon sounded in the arcade, and he remembered that they had a job to do. He gripped the wheel and felt the player overtake him.

Turbo had never imagined life without Jerry when he was first activated, and he didn't know how long he and his rivals had to live. If they were going to have a shot at surviving though, then they had to forget the past and focus on the players they had now. They had to be _fun_. They had to be _engaging_. They had to be _the best_. They were Turbo Time.


	4. Code Breakers

_Author's Notes: I would just like to thank **Cashagon** for reminding me this fic exists. I've been trying to update some of my more neglected stories, and this poor fic certainly qualifies. It is not a dead fic though so don't worry. I will try to be more consistent with updates, though admittedly I have a lot of stories to update so I can't be sure when the next chapter will be out. If you haven't already done so please follow this story so you'll know when I update it next. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter of "Fan-Turbotastic" and I'm sorry it took so long ^_^'_

* * *

Chapter 4

Code Breakers

Another day at the arcade had ended. It had been a little over two weeks since Turbo Time had been plugged in and it seemed the arcade cabinet still wasn't popular with the general public. Sure, there were a couple middle aged guys that enjoyed the nostalgia of the game, but the gameplay was generally considered too linear and boring to be a real contender against the likes of DDR, Sugar Rush, or Hero's Duty.

As for Turbo and his cohorts Choke and Dagger, their day pretty much went the same way with little exception. During the day they waited for players to choose them and hoped someone would notice their cabinet was free, and at night they would stay inside because they were too afraid of the characters that lived in the other games. Turbo noticed that Dagger cried more often than he used to, and Choke just sat around with a fog of melancholy metaphorically hanging over his head. He hated to see his friends in such a state, but he didn't know what to do to make others like them.

"Hey guys?" Dagger called out from the stands where he had been sitting with the lifeless dots that made up the audience, "I'm going out for a while. I promise to be back before the arcade opens."

"Out? Are you crazy?" Choke exclaimed critically, "You'll get killed out there! Didn't you hear? If you die outside our game you're a goner, forever!"

"Choke is right," Turbo added in concern, "You might just be an NPC, but we need you."

"I promise I won't get hurt," Dagger assured them with an anticipating smile, "I just need to get out for a while. It's torture seeing a whole bunch of other places we could go and then _not_ going to them. It's like being deprived of snacks that are laying loose on a table! I need my adventure snacks!"

"You're lucky we know you well enough to know what you're talking about," Choke deadpanned.

"Hm, maybe Dagger is right," Turbo conceded, much to Choke's surprise and confusion, "I don't mean we should all amscray to the nearest Cybug or Sugar Rush sprite, but if he needs to have fun then he should do so while he can. We all should, I suppose."

Choke looked sadly between his leader and his twin, and finally nodded his head slowly to allow Dagger to go. Dagger cheered and ran off to their train which would take him to the power strip that connects all of the games to each other. Once the hyperactive NPC was gone, Choke looked back at Turbo with a forlorn look, and saw it mirrored back in the face of his leader.

They both knew where their lives were headed. Dagger was sad that they weren't being played, but Turbo and Choke understood the full implications of their game's atrophy. No players meant no quarters, and no quarters meant that the being that controlled their fates would be displeased. If that happened then they would be banished from the arcade; possibly to never be reactivated again. If they didn't attract more players then they could die, and none of them knew what to do about it.

* * *

Dagger walked around looking up at everything in awe as he absorbed all of the new sights and sounds of the grand central station. He didn't know where to go first. There were so many games, but some might not be very friendly if Sugar Rush was any indicator. Maybe he could go to Pac-Man since Clyde lived there and he was nice. Maybe he should investigate a new game. He didn't know what to do first.

Then Dagger noticed a bunch of different types of sprites going in and out of a game called Tapper's. Well, if that was neutral ground then it should probably be the first place he tried.

When Dagger made it inside the game he saw that it looked like a bar, and there was a friendly looking barkeep slinging root beer all over the place to eager customers. It was so cool! Dagger felt excited to try the root beer and talk with new characters. He just hoped he was right and that people would be nicer here then in their own games. He didn't want to lose his last life from something stupid like a root beer mug to the head, after all.

Dagger sat down at the bar and motioned for a root beer, which he immediately got. He took a sip, and it tasted so sweet. It was almost as good as a donut. He looked to his left to see who he was sitting next to so he could start a conversation, and saw that it was an orange round guy with two feet, no hands, and an odd trunk of a nose. He had no idea what kind of Lovecraft-inspired abomination this guy was, but he was just desperate enough for company to find out.

"Hi there, my name is Dagger and I'm from Turbo Time," Dagger introduced himself as he flashed a friendly yellow-toothed smile, "What's your name?"

"$^*%$%," Replied the odd being, and Dagger's eyebrows shot up in confusion and shock.

"Um...Excuse me?" Dagger tried to sound friendly, but he was clearly freaked out.

"*#$%&#," The stranger replied more insistently.

Dagger slunk down further into his barstool and cautiously sipped his root beer. Whatever this thing was, Dagger just hoped it was friendly.

"Hey Q-Bert!" A new voice shouted over the white noise of the bar, and Dagger saw a short guy in overalls walking over with a bounce in his step, "You played a great game today, buddy. I'm just tickled pink at the positive feedback we've been getting from the people who play our game now, and it's all thanks to you and your friends. I want to buy you a root beer. May I?"

"#*&%" The thing, Q-Bert, nodded in affirmation.

"Great!" The overall guy exclaimed excitedly, "Say, don't I know you?" The guy asked as he looked at Dagger, and Dagger winced in preparation for a confrontation from the unknown individual, "Hm...Oh, I know! You look just like one of the Terror Twins from Turbo Time!"

"I am, actually," Dagger replied awkwardly, "My name is Dagger, and we've been plugged in here for two weeks."

"Yes, I heard. Ralph said you and your brother were at Pac-Man's a couple weeks ago," The little man nodded cheerfully, "My name is Fix-It Felix Jr., and I'm from the game, uh, Fix-It Felix Jr."

"Ralph? Oh, _Wreck-It_ Ralph," Dagger recalled after a second, "Yeah, I remember him. He seemed kind of aloof, but decent."

"Yeah, Ralph's a good guy," Felix replied, but then backtracked and said, "Well, I mean technically he's a bad guy, but when he's not working he's a good guy. Um, I mean a good person. Well, you know what I mean."

"I guess," Dagger shrugged, "I'm the same way. Choke and I race against Turbo in the game, but when we're not competing things are pretty good between the three of us. So, what role does the orange guy play in your game?"

"!%^&!" Q-Bert shouted in offense.

"Calm down, Q-Bert. He didn't mean anything by that," Felix smoothed over the situation, "Q-Bert and his friends were homeless after their game got unplugged."

"Oh," Dagger replied solemnly, understanding how bad that must feel and worried of facing the same fate.

"Yes, but then Ralph got a Jim-dandy of an idea!" Felix declared happily, "He invited Q-Bert and his friends to live in our game and act as unlockable bonus level bosses. I tell you, our game has never been more popular! They say it's a love letter to the glory days of the arcade era, whatever that means. It sure sounds nice though."

"They live in your game?" Dagger asked incredulously, "But how did you do that? They could die in your game!"

"Not anymore," Felix replied proudly, "We reprogrammed their base code to fit inside the world of Fix-It Felix Jr., and now the game recognizes them as native characters. Isn't that swell?"

"You can _do_ that?" Dagger asked in awe.

"Sure," Felix replied before catching a root beer that had slid across the counter to where he was sitting, "As it turns out, every game's code can be reworked and retooled to add new characters. Oddly enough, we learned this when a very bad game character inserted himself into a game where he didn't belong and we had to save it before Cybugs ate everything. It's, um, a long story."

"Sounds like it," Dagger commented, "Well, it was great meeting you Mr. Felix, and I hope we can talk again real soon. I've gotta get back to my own game now. Bye!"

Before Felix could even say goodbye Dagger was running out of Tapper's. This information was big. It was _really_ big. New sprites could be added to the game, and modern gamers loved more sprites. All the Turbo team had to do was find more sprites and they could save Turbo Time.

* * *

"You want us to _what_?" Choke asked flatly as he glared at his brother.

"Recruit more sprites!" Dagger exclaimed excitedly, "We just need to find some homeless guys that can drive cars in a 2D space and program them into the game. Isn't that great?"

"It's insane," Choke replied critically, "None of us know how to work our source code. I don't even know where it is!"

"In a door behind the bleachers," Turbo supplemented, "Not that it matters. Nobody here will help us. They hate us. I don't understand why, but Sugar Rush seems especially hostile toward us."

"Hero's Duty isn't much better," Choke added bitterly, "One guy called me a Cybug enabler. I don't even know what that means!"

"In fact, the only halfway decent NPC I found in Sugar Rush was that green gumball guy, and he was unstable," Turbo shivered as he recalled the strange little sprite trying to get Turbo to help him betray their princess, "He was actually going to program me into the-. Wait! That's it!"

"What's it?" Dagger asked eagerly.

"The sour ball," Turbo muttered as his yellow eyes widened in epiphany, "He knows how to program code! If we can make a deal with him, then we can use his expertise to recruit and reprogram NPC racers into Turbo Time. Oh man, this is Turbotastic! We're gonna be big again!"

"Yay!" Dagger cheered.

"Now hold on," Choke interjected, "Do you both hear yourselves? This is crazy! Turbo, what if the deal goes wrong? That gloomy gumdrop could reprogram your skin onto his body or get you locked back up in their fungeon. Think this through, gentlemen! What if he programs our game to crash? We could be killed! Turbo, don't do this."

Turbo then turned to Choke and gave him a serious look, a look that told Choke that he had already made up his mind.

"Choke, we're already dead," Turbo said solemnly, "We've been living on borrowed time, and if we want to keep ourselves activated a little longer we need more characters. I know dealing with this sour ball is probably making a deal with the devil, but if that's what it takes to keep us racing, well then...what choice do I have?"

Choke looked down at the ground to prevent himself from looking at his leader. This was more than they had ever had to deal with before, and Choke wasn't programmed to handle these kinds of decisions. Dagger gave Turbo a look of concern, and those innocent yellow eyes strengthened Turbo's resolve. Whatever he did to keep their game afloat, he was doing it for them. They would live to play another day, no matter the cost.

* * *

After the arcade closed the Turbo trio snuck through Game Central Station and into the Sugar Rush game. Turbo was shaking in fear at having to return to that candy coated nightmare factory, but he had to remind himself that Turbo Time depended on this. They had to go in there and find Sour Bill.

The three of them decided that taking the train was too much of a dead giveaway, so they drove their cars into Sugar Rush so no one would expect them. Once they were safely inside they all looked around to make sure no one was there to see them, and once they were convinced the coast was clear they drove into the candy cane forest. So far so good.

"Hey guys, where does the gumdrop man live?" Dagger inquired.

"Hm...If I recall, he works for the president," Turbo reasoned, "So therefore, he would live in the presidential palace. Oh, scattershot! Why didn't I think of that before? We have to sneak into the palace to find him! Oh, well now _that_ is just Turbotastic!" Turbo spat sarcastically.

"If you want, we could distract their president while you talk to the NPC," Choke offered.

"No," Turbo refused, "Their president might look like a cute little girl, but she's as unreasonable and black-hearted as they come. I won't leave you alone just so that witch can lock you in the fungeon."

"What's a fungeon?" Dagger asked innocently.

"A misleading name," Turbo replied bitterly, "It's supposed to mean fun dungeon, but there's nothing fun in there at all. Pictures of angry clowns stare at you."

"AH!" Dagger shouted at the thought of it, "I don't wanna go in the clown dungeon!"

"Then stick with me," Turbo ordered, "Whatever happens, we stick together. We have a better chance of defending ourselves if we're in a group."

"Hey, if we do become homeless will that make us a gang?" Dagger asked almost excitedly, "We could call ourselves the Turbo Timers and ride around like rebels without a cause. Oh, and we could beat up bad guys and protect the power strip from evil!"

"Beat up the-? Dagger, we could die outside our own game," Choke reminded him, "Why do you think we're on this foolish quest in the first place?"

"Oh. Right. Never mind," Dagger replied in disappointment.

They arrived at the palace and hid their cars behind a jawbreaker, deciding to try the stealthy approach of sneaking around on foot. Turbo went first and motioned for his teammates to follow him once he determined it was safe. Together the three grey racers tiptoed to the royal garage. There was an open door for the royal kart, which made it easy for them to get inside.

When the invading racers made it into the palace they went past several rooms. There were hallways decorated in red and pink, portraits of all the racers lining the walls, and rooms that held everything from delicious snacks to a basketball court to a purple canopy bed perched on a golden platform. Everything was so decadent and girly, yet Turbo knew not to get too comfortable. The face of sugary evil lived in this pink frosted castle.

"Turbo," Dagger whispered from behind his leader, "All of these baked goods are making me hungry. Can we grab a bite to eat?"

"If push comes to shove you can eat the cops," Turbo replied grimly, "They're made of donuts."

"Wow! Really?" Dagger asked a little too loudly.

"Shush!" Choke hissed at his brother, "Be quiet. We can't afford to make a sound."

The Turbo Time racers then made it to the end of a hallway where they saw President Vanellope talking with one of the racers. It was that boy with the peanut butter cup on his head, but Turbo didn't know his name. Choke and Dagger were both nervous as they waited for the pair of candy coated kids to finish their conversation. If they were spotted now they would be locked away and their game would be out of order. They had to get past Vanellope and find that blasted gumball guy.

Finally, after what seemed like forever Vanellope and Rancis finished talking and parted ways. Rancis walked right past the Turbos and they feared they would be spotted, but fortunately for them flattening themselves against the wall was enough to avoid detection. They breathed a collective sigh of relief, but their victory was short lived as a shadow fell over them and they realized they had been caught.

"Looking for something?"


	5. The Chase

Chapter 5

The Chase

"Looking for something?"

The Turbo team jumped and turned around when they heard an eerie monotone voice ask them that question, but then they heaved a collective sigh of relief when they saw it was merely Sour Bill.

"Actually, we came here looking for you," Turbo replied with a smile that bordered between nervous and annoyed, "I wanted to talk to you about your offer to teach me coding."

"I figured you'd be back," Sour Bill replied drowsily; his voice as boring as a game of Pong with nobody moving the bars, "Though I'm surprised you forgot how to edit the code of the game. Don't worry though my liege, I'll be more than happy to assist you."

" _Happy_?" Dagger whispered to Choke, "I don't think he's _ever_ been happy if his current mood is any indicator."

"Sour Bill," Turbo continued while ignoring his brothers, "What we need to know is how to graft a game sprite from one game to another."

"Of course, sire," Sour Bill replied dutifully, "Will you require your King Candy code?"

"Uh...No, actually," Turbo replied hesitantly, not knowing who or what King Candy was, "Nothing quite so drastic. We actually need to know how to strip away unnecessary code so that more advanced game characters can be added to Turbo Time."

"Oh, I see how it is," Sour Bill replied in offense, "Now that you have your own game back you think you're too good for Sugar Rush? Typical."

"Hey, would you leave _your_ home game for another, no matter how much better it seemed? Huh?" Choke snapped, not willing to cater to such a manipulative little troll, "We need your help to keep Turbo Time alive. I know our game is small, and our graphics are lame, but that doesn't mean we don't deserve our place in the arcade. We work just as hard as everybody else here, and we do it without multiplayer, 3D camera angles, or even a decent sound card. So don't you _dare_ act like you're better than us just because you live here in this polygon-riddled Candyland knockoff!"

Turbo looked at Choke, and then whipped his head back to look at Sour Bill. Choke was always a bit more laid back than Dagger, so it was a bit surprising to see him lose his temper like that. Turbo felt terrible, because he was the player avatar. If his fellow racers were worried about being unplugged it was because he wasn't fun enough for the players. He felt it was all his fault, and he didn't know what to do about it if Sour Bill wasn't willing to help them.

"You promised to come back to Sugar Rush and then you ran away," Sour Bill reminded Turbo accusingly, "If I'm going to help you now, then I want something in return."

"Name it," Turbo replied without hesitation.

"I want you to become our ruler again," Sour Bill told him, "No more tricks, no more lies, and no more Vanellope. I'm tired of being ignored and forgotten. If you don't agree to become King Candy again then I'm not helping you, and your precious Turbo Time can go rot for all I care."

Despite the dull way those words were presented, they cut to the core. Their only hope for saving Turbo Time rested in the sticky green hands of a psychotic NPC with a voice like Ambien personified. The Terror Twins were just about to refuse the offer, but then much to their surprise Turbo sucked in a breath and said "I'll do it."

"What? Are you _crazy_?" Choke asked their leader incredulously, "Turbo Time would be unplugged without you! You can't stay here! That's completely illogical!"

"I'll think of something," Turbo promised his brother, "But right now we have to keep Turbo Time from going bankrupt and being unplugged. Sour Bill can help us, and if being banished to this terrifying Willy Wonka wasteland is what it takes to save your lives, then I'll do it. It's my responsibility to look out for you."

"No!" Dagger cried out; pixel tears forming in his eyes, "What will we do without you?"

"Yeah, not to inflate your ego more than it already is, but you're pretty much the center of Turbo Time's universe," Choke added wryly.

"Don't worry guys," Turbo replied with a reassuring smile, "I have a plan, but for now we need to trust Sour Bill."

The twins paled at the idea of trusting that greedy gumball, but Turbo seemed pretty sure of himself, so they reluctantly stopped protesting. Sour Bill didn't smile, but Turbo got the feeling the NPC was very satisfied with himself in that moment. Well, if Turbo was going to have to give himself up to Sugar Rush, then he at least wanted to make it worth his while...

"Alright Sour Bill, we have an agreement, but I insist on one more condition," Turbo announced, and Sour Bill listened, "I want the 3 lowest ranked racers on Sugar Rush to be the new NPCs in Turbo Time. If you don't agree to my demands, we walk."

"Sounds fair," Sour Bill shrugged, and the Turbo trio was shocked at how easily Sour Bill said that.

With the terms firmly set between the two parties involved, Turbo shook the sticky green hand of their new partner in crime. There was no going back now. Turbo was officially going to kidnap candy themed children and turn them into ugly grey Turbo Time racers. He didn't feel good about this decision, but it was all for the legacy of Turbo Time. Turbo knew in that moment that he really would do anything for his NCPs and their game... _anything_.

* * *

Citrusella Flugpucker was racing through the Candy Cane Forest level and humming along to the theme song as it played in the background. She hadn't managed to get on the roster the previous night, so she was practicing for the next one. Jubileena Bing Bing had managed to get on the roster, which didn't seem fair to Citrusella. She was technically just a purple recolor of Jubilenna, but her stats were actually better so she was kind of competitive about racing with her look-alike.

She admired the scenery as she drove past the chocolate swamp and the double stripe candy cane trees. She could hear the roar of her engine and feel the vibrations of the road. Everything was right with the world. Soon she could hear another kart coming up behind her, so she sped up so whoever it was wouldn't catch up.

As she heard the kart get closer she listened to the sound of the engines purr. That was when she noticed something was off. That engine sounded less powerful, yet the car was going faster. She could tell the tires were smoother as well, indicating less detail.

She turned around and saw a simple yellow car with a driver that looked like Turbo wearing a blue jumpsuit. Citrusella had heard about the situation with the Turbo Time game and knew that this racer was one of the NPCs. He looked nervous as his car got closer to her kart, and she wondered if maybe Sugar Rush had made a bad first impression on the new guys.

"Hey, noob!" Citrusella called out to the terror twin, "You ready to eat my dust? Come on, we can go one more lap!"

"Pull over!" The twin shouted back at her, "I need to ask you a question!"

Citrusella shrugged to herself, but nonetheless looked for a turnoff point. She didn't understand why a racer would come to another racing game and not want to race, but then again she didn't really know much about 8 BIT game sprites in general.

When she pulled off at the nearest curb the twin pulled up behind her. When he exited the car she could see that he was fidgety and rubbing his hands together while looking in every direction. He looked like he had just stolen Vanellope's cookie jar or something, which only piqued Citrusella's curiosity.

"Hey bud, what's wrong?" Citrusella asked once he got close enough to her, "Are you okay? You said you needed to ask me a question?"

"Yeah, I did," Dagger replied as he reluctantly made eye contact, "I just wanna know what your favorite color is."

"Is that a joke?" Citrusella asked as she gestured to her purple hair and outfit, "It's purple obviously. Why?"

"Just...wondering..." Dagger replied as he took a couple steps back from her.

Before Citrusella could realize anything was wrong, Choke came up behind her and wrapped a licorice rope around her body! Citrusella shrieked and tried to pull away from the terror twin, but his grip was too firm. Choke pulled and Dagger pushed the juvenile racer into Choke's car. They stuffed her in the trunk and Choke slammed the lid. If they thought getting away with Citrusella would be easy however, they were wrong.

"Hey, you!" A voice roughly called out to the twins, and they looked to see a racer in a pink parka glaring at them, "Let her go, you creeps! Right now!"

"Run!" Dagger shouted as he hopped into his car.

Choke followed suit, and together they drove off the track and into the candy cane forest beyond. The racer, Nougetsia Brumblestain, revved her engine and drove off after the kidnappers. She wasn't about to let those Turbo clones drive off with her friend.

Driving off-road was hard, especially for the twins who had no experience with the terrain. They even drove into several trees in their confusion. Most of the trees were double stripe, so they disappeared when anything impacted with them. The twins were being slowed down however, and also clearing a path for their pursuer. Nougetsia gained on the twins, and the two decided to separate with Dagger going left and Choke going right. Choke had Citrusella, so Nougetsia chased him and left Dagger alone.

Choke was a slightly better driver than Dagger when it came to making complicated turns, though Dagger was faster. Choke was better equipped to make it through the forest, but he didn't have rubberband AI like he did in his own game, so he would have to rely on out-drifting the Sugar Rush racer.

For several minutes he weaved through the trees with Nougetsia on his tail, but then he suddenly stopped. Nougetsia couldn't believe her luck. He was stuck in the chocolate mud, and she could rescue her friend!

Nougetsia hopped out of her car at the same time Choke did, and she quickly caught up to him and slammed him against his own car's blue door! Choke grabbed her arms, but he wasn't strong enough to fend her off, not in her own game.

"Let Citrusella go!" Nougetsia demanded as she got right in his face.

"Alright, you have clearly...bested me," Choke rasped as she held onto his windpipe, "I just want you to answer...one question before I let her go."

"What kind of question?" Nougetsia asked suspiciously.

"What *cough* what is you favorite color?" Choke asked after she let him go.

"Favorite color? It's pink. Why?" Nougetsia asked in confusion.

A shadow fell on them from behind Nougetsia, and in that moment she realized her mistake. Choke didn't get stuck. He led her into a trap.

She turned around just in time to see Turbo swing a large chunk of candy cane at her head. The last thing she saw before being knocked out was blackness and stars.

"Good work," Turbo congratulated Choke without enthusiasm, "Two for one. So, what colors should we program for them?"

"Purple and pink," Choke replied stoically.

"Hm, a little girly, but I guess it can work," Turbo shrugged, "Now, for their new names..."

* * *

Sticky Wipplesnit was at the Bake-A-Kart mini game working on a new kart for when the arcade opened. She had won the roster race the previous night, but then she and Ransis were being idiots and doing donuts around the Rocky Road level. That caused Sticky to get a flat tire and careen off the cliff. She was fine, but her kart was totaled.

"Hm, maybe this time I'll go easier on the sprinkles," Sticky said to herself as she decided how to decorate her vehicle, "Definitely want lots of frosting though. Maybe something turquoise, or pastel green. Hm, I should've decided this before I came in. Uh oh! No! Now there's underwear in the kart batter!"

Sticky worked the controls feverishly to try to fix her mistake and hopefully save the kart she had been working on for the past minute and a half. Yeah, to most people that much time wouldn't matter, but in Sugar Rush everybody moved quickly due to racer's code and constantly eating candy. It felt like she had worked on that kart forever.

As she worked on her kart she didn't notice that someone else had walked in on her. She continued to work the controls as the other avatar got closer and closer. She finished the game, and out came her beautiful turquoise colored kart with a light touch of purple sprinkles and vanilla wafer wheels.

"Sweet Jimmies, it's perfect!" Sticky exclaimed happily.

"It certainly is," A male voice said from behind her, and she quickly whipped around to see Turbo staring back at her, "Too bad you won't get to enjoy it."

He came at her with a tire jack, but Sticky dodged just in time. She quickly scuttled around to the back of the kart to use it as a barrier to keep away from Turbo. Turbo, instead of chasing after Sticky, used his tire jack to smash the hood of Sticky's new kart!

"Hey! That's mine, you pixelated loser!" Sticky snapped angrily, "That's it! Prepare to get candy crushed!"

"Candy crushed?" Turbo asked critically, "Oh, now that is so lame."

Sticky performed a swing kick that got Turbo right in the helmet, and he was knocked into a container of chocolate sprinkles. Turbo closed his eyes as stinging bits of chocolate rained down on him and buried him. Sticky used that moment to get into her beat up new kart and drive away. She had to get to the palace and warn President Vanellope!

Sticky didn't even make it out of the parking lot before two cars on either side of her slammed into her kart; totaling it.

"Aw, not again!" Sticky whined as she pulled herself out of the wreckage.

The two cars, yellow and blue, stopped in front of her, and she saw that it was the Turbo Twins sneering at her. Turbo then chose this moment to stumble out of the bakery; sprinkles still falling out of his pant legs.

"I don't know what your game is, but you'll never get away with this!" Sticky Wipplesnit shouted defiantly.

"Our game?" Turbo asked condescendingly, "Our _game_ is Turbo Time, and soon it will be your game too."

Choke then pressed a button on his dashboard that caused knockout gas to spray from the grill of his car. Sticky coughed a few times before passing out, and then the trio loaded her into Turbo's trunk.

"Well, three for three," Turbo stated with no joy or energy, "I guess this one can be green. She kind of looks like a green."

"Alright then," Choke nodded grimly, "Let's get these tootsie rolls to Turbo Time before the arcade opens. Dagger, you go get Sour Bill."

Dagger, normally the talkative one, had nothing to say as he drove away to fetch their contact. He couldn't believe it had come to this. They were criminals and soon would compromise their entire game just for a little more longevity and replay ability. What would Jerry think of them now?

* * *

 _Author's Notes: Hi! I decided to put the Author's Notes on the bottom because I have a question to ask you guys. What names do you think would sound cool for the three "new additions" to Turbo Time? I'll pick my three favorite names out of all the suggestions when I update next. See you then :)_


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